tired

[danaeris]

Tired. Apparently, doing laundry, grading papers, folding laundry, and putting it all away takes up most of the evening. And I haven't done any work on the contract, nor have I written the chemistry test I'm giving my students tomorrow. Oops.

On the positive side, I've been feeling a lot healthier. The coughing is mostly gone, and I at least know or have some sense of how to treat the itching, now. In fact, my scalp is hardly itchy in comparison to a week ago, but now there's this psychosomatic ooky feeling that there are things crawling on my head that is probably entirely in my head, no pun intended.

More goodness at the school. Principal sat in on one of my classes to get the kids to behave, although oddly, they had been behaving properly for once BEFORE she got there. Afterwards she said that she thought I was a very talented teacher. *bounce* She's very nice to me. She offered to delouse me. Isn't that nice of her? I doubt it will actually happen -- she's got a crazy busy schedule -- but it would be nice.

Post Script
I have now cleaned everything that has been worn or lain upon by me in the last while that is likely to be a vector of infection. I have shampoo'd twice with the walgreen's shampoo and done my best at delousing without someone to aid me.

I just bagged some clothing that can't be washed and dried on high heat, along with Bunny. I will miss my Bunny! (yes, he has a name, but I prefer calling him Bunny)

I also sprayed my mattress in the region my hair is closest to, and also the couch spot I usually sit in with the home spray in my RID kit.

What's left to do? Get someone to physically delouse me, and vacuum.

My hope is that either Saturday or Friday night, I can shower with the RID shampoo and then get someone to delouse me. Then I can go to the DHP without feeling disgusting and infectious. Even if there's still a few eggs that were missed, at that point I'll be pretty unlikely to shed anything, and I may even be cured. We'll see!

Comments

[cyan-blue.livejournal.com]

That is sweet of her to offer! And, what wonderful praise of your teaching skill.

sympathizing with that crawly feeling

[dawnd.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a good plan, and if you've been nitpicked that very day, it's probably OK to go to the DHP as long as you're careful not to put your hair near anyone else's for very long (probably wear it up), or sit or lie with your head against any upholstery. Leather or vinyl seats would be the best places for you to sit because there's nowhere for them to hide, so they won't come out (even if there ARE any live lice left at the moment, which would be unlikely).

But be careful in thinking you're "cured." Missing even one nit, of course, will start the whole cycle all over again in the blink of an eye. Get someone to look you over AGAIN next week, at the very least.

More tips:

As I think I mentioned elsewhere, the nits look like litte drops of hairspray clinging to the base of the hairs. If you can flick it off easily (like with your fingernail), it's not a nit. If it's stuck there, as with glue, it probably is. One way to remove them is to slide them down off the hair (which of course is a pain in the butt for us with the long hair). I found that was a technique I could use myself on the portions of the hair I could actually see and reach, along the hairline in front, and around my ears. The most common places for the buggers to lay the eggs are around the backs of the ears and along the nape of the neck, BTW. And full nit cases look plump and glossy, and don't squash easily.

Keep doing the shampooing periodically for a while (at least a month), rotating the shampoos so you have different active ingredients each time, to knock out more of the bugs. And do the spraying and washing of clothes and bedding each time, too, just to be sure.


(Gods, this is specific knowledge I wish neither of us had!!)

[greeklady.livejournal.com]

I don't want to sound paranoid but you need to spray everything with the poison. Not just part of your matress, all of your mattress, rug, sofa's, chairs. Anything with fabric that can be washed, wash. If it can't be washed spray, if it can't be sprayed, bag it up for 6 months.

Sorry you got this. We went through this with my sister in grade school.

[plymouth.livejournal.com]

so do you still think you also have bedbugs, or do you think it was just the lice all along?

[danaeris.livejournal.com]

I don't know. I KNOW I have lice. I don't know about the bed bugs. Right now, I'm planning on dealing with the lice, and seeing what happens after that. When I'm clean of lice, if I'm still getting bites, then we'll see.

The three bugs I thought I saw... they could have been debris I mistook for bed bugs. I didn't bag them and keep them, so I can't prove it one way or another, unfortunately.